willysmjeeps.com

Hello: I have been studying my m170 frame. It looks like the frame and axles were painted chassis black first, then the OD was painted over top. The Black is glossy and the OD did not stick to it all that well. The paint is original. It appears the OD did not fully cover the chassis. especially inside the C sections as the gloss back is still evident.

The accepted version of frame painting is they were delivered to Willys in chassis black with no primer. The chsssis were assembled and then painted.

Perhaps Keith B and/or Ryan can offer a more detailed report.

You may want to contact David P from Weebee webbing and compare notes on his observations made during his M170 restoration.

As stated it is generally accepted that the frames were black as delivered bare. Input of when (how much of the chassis was assembled before paint) and how they were painted OD would be useful. Factory line photos are still needed to show if there was any masking and what other hardware was added after OD painting.

Tom

Yep - the frame and axles are definitely chassis black on my example. It is then painted OD overtop. The chassis harness has no paint on it, so it was installed after. the interesting thing is the chassis mounting points are chassis black underneath the rubber/cloth anti squeak material?

Are your observations leading you to conclude that the body was on the jeep before they repainted the frame OD?

Tom

Did you look on the back of the old rubber pads for the peeled off OD paint?

Hello Tom: I looked at the old rubber body mounts and found some evidence of OD 2430 stuck to them from the frame side. It was hard to detect but could me seen under magnification. Body, also has evidence of OD 2430 where the rubber mount was. conclusion is that frame & axles were black, than painted OD 2430. Rubber pads and chassis harness were installed after frame paint. body was already OD 2430 when mounted to frame. Frame OD did not adhere as well, probably due to chassis black having more of a gloss finish.

Brian